CLARKSVILLE — If there is anything new coming out of our nation’s Capitol nowadays, it is definitely not a discussion about real answers to big problems specific to Arkansans.

For those who feel better hearing governmental information in person, U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, provided them an opportunity to listen and ask questions Saturday during a town hall meeting at the Johnson County Courthouse on West Main Street.

Cotton provided several detailed responses to his vote against Hurricane Sandy aid.

“It was the $60 billion in additional funds that were requested,” he explained. “$10 billion was to go to a financially, nearly disabled, program. The national flood insurance program is broke.”

In addition, it would not do any good to funnel money into a program that is designed to offer assistance when it needs assistance itself, he pointed out.

“I don’t think Arkansas needs to bail out the Northeast,” Cotton asserted. He told the audience many of the proposed relief programs were larded up by New York politicians. They were using this opportunity as a grab bag for politicians’ wish lists and for funding repairs to infrastructure that had nothing to do with weather damage.

“A lot of that money was not going to natural disaster relief. A lot of that money was to go to municipalities that were underinsured,” Cotton said. He pointed out the amount of money requested was excessive. He said $60 billion is 12 times the budget Arkansas has to work with in a year.

One person asked about his stance on homosexuality in the military. Cotton said he supported the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. that formerly was in place.

“Social policy changes are a waste of time, and what we have now works,” he said. “This is important for military brass. It allows them to take care of their troops and maintain the level of respect each of them deserve.”

This is the position Gen. James Amos, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, held in a recent conversation with Cotton. The congressman said gay and lesbian couples have legal recourse in estate business and medical care in the form of a power of attorney.

“Not only is marriage a 5,000-year-old institution, redefining marriage is not a federal issue,” he said. “Ultimately, it is part of the sovereignty of individual states to make those changes.”

Relative to the gun control issue, Cotton said he is against national registration, but believes the reformation should focus on criminals who have access to firearms.

“I trust law-abiding citizens to trade guns. I don’t trust the people in D.C. who check digits,” he said.

Cotton provided many important details about the changing perspectives over gun control. “Law-abiding citizens should own a weapon,” he said, adding that there should be a focus on mental health laws.

The current laws keep those people who need help from getting it. It also ties the hands of those who can help the most, he said. When a young person turns 18, a doctor or other health care professional is not allowed to share information with parents.

Cotton is for immigration, but only if it is legal. He said it would be unfair to those who are following the path to citizenship through the appropriate channels and abiding by existing laws if citizenship were granted to those who are here illegally.

Cotton will have an office up and running soon in the Clarksville courthouse, where citizens will have an opportunity to voice concerns and deal directly with his office in Washington, D.C., via satellite.